Preview | Swansea City v Rotherham United
Swansea City are looking to bounce back from defeat against Stoke City as they get set to host Rotherham United in this evening’s televised fixture.
Russell Martin’s side were twelfth after the previous round of fixtures while the Millers were 20th – four points above the drop zone – after picking up an important win against Sunderland last time out.
Maintaining Championship status will undoubtedly be the aim for the side who have spent the last five seasons being promoted and relegated between the second tier and League One.
Team news
Swans boss Martin is hopeful that both Jay Fulton and Luke Cundle will be available for Monday evening’s game.
Both missed out on the defeat against Stoke last week, but have been back in training.
This boost comes after fellow midfielder Liam Walsh got his first minutes of the season last time out and Morgan Whittaker earned his first start.
Pre-match views
Russell Martin: “Rotherham are very good at what they do.
“They run and work very hard, they’ll be aggressive in their approach and make it as difficult as possible.
“We need to bring our own game and dominate things as much as possible. Playing on a Monday gives us more time to recover from our last game and get preparations in. We’ll turn that into a positive.
“The only thing we can do on Monday is try to energise the crowd by putting in a good performance.”
Matt Taylor: “[Swansea are] mid-table and they’ll have aspirations to push up the table.
“We know how difficult it will be, certainly on their home patch at their stadium which really suits the way they play. We have to find a way of putting them under pressure with or without the ball, and that will be a process that we’ll go through over the weekend.
“Whenever a game is live on TV you want to put in an eye-catching performance, which is something felt collectively.”
Remember the last time?
Swansea City recorded a third home win in a row as Matt Grimes scored the only goal of the game to see off Rotherham United at the Liberty Stadium.
The Swans’ skipper netted his first goal for the club in 19 months with a controlled volley from a half-cleared corner just before the half-hour mark.
The ultimate margin of victory could, and perhaps should, have been greater with Jamal Lowe, Liam Cullen and Jake Bidwell among those to be denied.
Prime numbers
2 – Matt Grimes scored in both matches against Rotherham United when the sides met during the 2020-21 season.
98 – Morgan Whittaker took just 98 seconds to open the scoring on Tuesday evening as he made his first start for the club since returning from Plymouth Argyle on loan.
450 – Should he play on Monday evening, Joe Allen will make his 450th league appearance (EFL and Premier League).